Chinese Preparing New Legal Structure For 2005
The Chinese government is floating its plans for a new
body of legal changes which it hopes to put in place
for 2005. All legal changes have to be debated and passed
by the National People's Congress (NPC), which convenes
in March in Beijing.
The scope of change suggests that the Chinese government
and Chinese Communist party is pushing forward with its
goal of morphing from a revolutionary party to a governing
party. In the early years of the People's Republic, ending
with the beginning of economic reforms in 1978, there
was virtually no body of law and legal judgments to speak
of, and those that were in place were routinely violated
or ignored by officials.
Some of the new laws under discussion are:
- an anti-secession law directed at Taiwan
- The right to jury trial in certain criminal cases,
and possibly civil cases
- Revising and updating intellectual property law
The anti-secession law is directed at pro-independence
activists in Taiwan, and would provide the Chinese government
with a legal basis for using force against Taiwan in
the event of a declaration of independence by the island.
Essentially, the Chinese central government would be
viewed as "enforcing the anti-secession law",
if such an event occurred.
The right to jury trial would be a first in China, and
would raise certain minimal requirements for vetting
jury candidates. Currently, all criminal trials in China
are bench trials, where judgments and sentencing are
performed by a judge or judges. The introduction of jury
trials would be an important milestone in the raising
of legal rights for the average Chinese citizen.
The Chinese courts have also begun to show an interest
in hearing intellectual
property cases. Since China joined the World Trade
Organization (WTO) in 2001, intellectual property violations
have become a major bone of contention, especially with
the US. Since the Chinese legal system has not been strong
in this area, the Chinese have been at a distinct disadvantage
when arguing their cases with US law firms and their
clients.
By making judgments on IP cases in China, the Chinese
legal system would build up its own body of judgments
in the field, which it could then use in arguing before
international courts. As the Chinese economy grows, the
clout of the Chinese judgments would become more important.
As the Chinese courts build up their judgments, Chinese
government enforcement of their judgments will have to
improve. Otherwise, Chinese courts will be seen as ineffective.
Most IP litigation in the US is decided by bench trials,
since most citizens have trouble grasping the nuances
and subtleties of complicated IP issues.
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